@Rusalka@Gentlemanvaultboy@DriveEMOut
'I'm sorry, elephant what?!' Serene called after the Baron, but by this time, he was already gone. But hearing a voice behind her, she tensed and peered out from behind the closet door, the sack of weapons carefully concealed from the newcomer.

((is this open?))

The Baron had indeed gone, heading into the room and staring down the long hallway reveled by the bookcase. "An elephant gun. I know I saw one in there last time I looked." He called back to her question. "We don't know what's making that awful racket, but it certainly must be large. Also, good job reveling the secret passage. Keep fumbling in that closet if you can, it might open more doors."

@Rusalka@WeepingHollows@Gentlemanvaultboy@Amithea
As the intrepid mansion explorers ventured down the hallway and examined the sparse decorations, the unforgiving environment and the general malaise of the subterranean architecture, the first images to enter their heads might have been just how someone could be trapped in such a cruelly constructed place beneath such a welcoming abode. Truly the hidden passages didn't look to match the house they were attached to at all. Looking like something out of one of the darker parts of historical texts on crime and punishment.

A gaol, maybe?

A thought for another time. As they arrived in the chamber that was the origin of the screams and the struggle, a brazier in the center of the room burst into flame to reveal the prisoner.

The form of a heavily muscled man was easy to see. Skin darkened into tough leather but what could only be decades of hard labor, wide shoulders, standing at a height of around 7 feet. With hands like they were carved from stone, he struggled against the bonds that held him. He was strapped to the wall by a terrifying amount of leather buckled strips and dark steel chains, but still he pulled against them. His head was covered in a helmet that looked more like an iron maiden then it did a helmet. Otherwise his body was bare, with all its scars and deep marring, save for his tattered cloth pants.

"Oh! Bully work finding that hidden passage! Truly good show." Said a disembodied voice from the shadow. Strange that it didn't seem to be coming from the large monster of a man chained to the wall, as all he could do was struggle and mewl.

Turning around to the wall opposite would find no other prisoner. A situation most peculiar, this bodyless voice.

"I do apologise for the big lummox's vocal furore, he's blind as a bloody bat and deaf as anything without me to interpret for him."

Not a hint of another prisoner even being held here. The only other thing in here was in the other wall. Literally IN. From the stonework protruded a large, menacing blade of dark steel. Jagged and slightly curved. It's hilt and handle looked twisted, organic in a fashion, as it seemed to... BREATHE. The pinkish eye on the blade just before the wall squinted at the party through the offensive light.

"Now, would you mind terribly if one of you were to yank me from this bloody wall and use me to cut the big lad loose? I'm frightfully aware of his fear of the dark and he's been crying for so very long."

Zakk clicked his tongue nervously and tailed the person who Claudia called 'Baron', glancing around at his surroundings for any possible escape routes before wandering into the dark hallway. His brow furrowed as his breathing increased, a feeling of unease settling over him whilst he tried to locate Baron in the low light.
Who is that? His thoughts raced more than the horses in his homeland whilst a cold sweat trickled down his back. Venturing more in, he clicked his tongue and gestured for Baron to follow, having caught a 'unique' scent to say the least. He put his head down and went on all fours, running along the dusty floorboard and tracing to the smell until he came to a door and pushed it open with his shoulder.

@Rusalka@WeepingHollows@Horrid@Gentlemanvaultboy
'Ok...' She called, climbing further into the closet to investigate. By rummaging around inside a little, moving various things about, she managed to uncover a small control panel. 'I think I've found-'
But, hearing further commotion in the basement, Serene stood up, bashing her head on the door frame as she did. She winced, and made her way to the long and winding staircase leading there, peering down cautiously.

The Baron leans in close to examine the sword, looking it right in the eye for quite some time, before leaning back and placing his hand to his chin ponderously. Then he shrugged. "Nothing ventured." He reached for the sword, then hesitated.

He whipped off his glove and snapped his fingers. That same substance began to ooze from it into the air again, but around his hand the stuff started to solidify, then inflate like a party balloon until his hand could not even be seen anymore. In but a moment it went through the self same squish-stretch motion, ripping itself a face as the Baron ripped his hand from it. What remained was very much like a man sized balloon, egg shaped, glowing luminous green, vacant and empty eyes accented by a wide grin. A long ghost tail wafted out behind it where the Baron had withdrawn his hand. Held in front of it, limp, were two skinny arms connected to a pair of what could charitably be called hand which held four blob-like fingers each. The Baron looked from the ghosts arms to the sword and back, sighed, and reinserted his hand. It's limp noodles bulged, exploding out into BIG BEEFY ARMS that it instantly began to flex at every lady in the room.

The Baron cleared his throat and the doofy ghost snapped its attention back to him. He pointed at the sword embedded in the wall. The ghost nodded, gripped the blade as veils bulged in its extremely macho arms, and wrenched it from the wall.

@WeepingHollows@Gentlemanvaultboy@Amithea
The goopy ghoul gave a great tug with its gargantuan arms and with a scrape and a crumble, the dapper blade looked on with eye wide open as it clattered to the floor from the sheet weight of the thing. The vibrations of the blade hitting the floor set the giant on the other side of the room to struggling again.

"Steady on, my good man! You're bloody lucky my blade won't chip! Oh, the choice words I would have for you!" The blade's voice echoed into the chamber as the ghost hoisted it away, strength faltering slightly, and swung it at the tie that bound the monstrous man trapped on the room.

The giant managed to get its arm free, and swung it in a violent arc to snatch the blade from the ghosts viscous-looking fingers. He hacked and he wrenched and he pried with such fervor that one would think he was trying to dig his way out.

"I know, old boy, I know. Just do lighten up on the iron grip!"

A moment of struggle later and the monster of a man was free, hoisting the blade up to his massive shoulder as it took a half-lidded gaze around at its company. The giant growled as his chest heaved with the effort, seeming to be calming down.

"Now that the big lad is free and I'm not hilt-deep in that blasted wall anymore, I see that formalities are in order."

The large man pounded his chest with a great stonelike fist.

"This is G. Single letter. He can't hear you but that's his name."

After a moment, G got on one knee and laid the blade out in his hands as if presenting it to a superior.

"And I am Davidius Redmond Springer. You may call me Dave."

G bowed his head as Dave closed his eye as they faced the others.

"We are forever in your debt."

@Horrid@Gentlemanvaultboy@Amithea

Well this was certainly.... what?

Claudia blinked for a moment in confusion, crossing her arms with a somewhat puzzled look to her face. As if she hadn't seen it all, the ghastly looking blade spoke with the voice of a man, a very dapper man at that. She looked to the sentient sword then to the tall brute of a fellow wielding it, her brow crinkling.

This place was just more bizarre by the second.

For the time being, she stood by merely observing, but now, she felt inclined to say something.

~"Charmed."~ She answered "Dave" nonchalant. ~"But what were you and the big fellow doing down here anyways?"~

"Sam Wayne, The Baron Halloween." The Baron replied, bowing deeply. "I don't suppose you remember a mansion above this place here? I must confess this place greatly clashes with aesthetic above."

The doofy ghost had gone back to flexing at Claudia and Serene.

@Gentlemanvaultboy

~"Heh, down boy."~ Claudia gave the spectre a cheeky grin, such a card it was. ~"Claudia DeFeren, and I must say as well this place is...not what I would suspect being part of a gorgeous estate such as this. Reminds me of those terrible interrogation rooms in Berlin."~ Her mind trailed off a bit as she remembered some dark times.

She shook her head of the thought and resumed. ~"I must say, despite all of the bizarre occurences today, this certainly takes the cake, a talking sword and a giant...whatever your friend is, Sir Springer."~

Zakk cocked his head and went down to G's level, pulling out the slip if paper he had used before with the name 'Zakk' presented onto it. Placing his note back into his pocket, he turned and stood beside the others, observing the peculiar beings for any sign of a threat.

@Rusalka@Horrid@Gentlemanvaultboy

@Gentlemanvaultboy@WeepingHollows@Rusalka@Amithea
G rose to his tremendous height of 7 foot once more and hoisted Dave up into two hands at his side. The eye upon the sword's surface fixed upon Claudia and The Baron at their questioning.

"Above us? What manse stands above this hellish pit, Mr. Wayne? Memory is... a funny thing. Last good news I heard from the outside, the Empire was recovering from the loss of the Thirteen Colonies..."

Dave's eye seemed to shimmer slightly at the mention of the Empire. He looked to Claudia with a blank stare that lingered... maybe a touch too long.

"Pray, Madam DeFeren, tell me you have word of good Farmer George? How fares our highness?"

The wolflad holding the piece of paper up to G's caged mug was met with a sniffing from the brute and a hearty guffaw from the blade.

"Terribly sorry but the old boy is as blind as a bat, young master Zakk."

Dave blinked at him, voice smiling and eye twinkling through the dark.

"My but you are a queer looking bunch, aren't you? A Hallows Eve spook, a woman in gossamer garb, a wolfish lad from the wilds, and a lass from what looks like the east land of the rising sun?" Dave's gaze swept to Serene standing at the entrance, where it lingered once more.

Dave hummed with what sounded like positivity and blinked absently as G's massive muscled chest heaved with his heavy breaths.

"Well, no matter. I've longed for ages to feel the breeze on my hilt. Shall we head up?"

G moved with purpose, hunching over to fit into the stone hallway and make his way back up with Dave astride his back.

The hallway had gradually darkened until the interior of the mansion was pitch black, lit by nothing save the eerie green glow of the Jack-o-lantern burning on the hallway table. The Baron made a beeline for it, holding it aloft to have a look around. "Hello?" he called. "Anyone still here?"

"Pray, Madam DeFeren, tell me you have word of good Farmer George? How fares our highness?"

Claudia smirked, a hand precariously perched on her hip. ~"No idea of who Farmer George is, good sir, but I do have splendid news from Der Fuhrer. He's dead."~ A cheeky remark, Claudia tittered.

@Gentlemanvaultboy@WeepingHollows

Suddenly, everything around them grew dark once more, this time for good seemingly. Claudia looked all around, her eyes shifting towards a more beastly, feline demeanor, pupils but mere slits of black. ~"Come out here, you!"~ She hissed, a presence she sensed, deep and foreboding as it lurked among the endless void of shadows.

She stood back to back with the wolf man, ready to transform at will and attack.